=== 

Jim wasn't exactly sure what it was about Michael that made him want to help him. Maybe it was something about the way Michael begged for a song partner. Or the fact that he persevered, despite everyone rejecting him. Maybe it was just because he looked so pathetic up there by himself.

Whatever it was, Jim found himself in front of everyone, singing a duet with Michael. He also couldn't explain why he'd winked at Pam when he sang the part about "makin' love." Maybe it was the beer, of the camaraderie, or the mood of the moment -- but she'd giggled in response to his gesture, so.

He wondered if she just thought he was being silly, and that's why she'd laughed. He was kind of being silly, but still. Something made him wish it was Pam up there singing a duet with him, not Michael.

As they finished the song, he sat back down next to her, grabbing his beer. "You know," he started to say, "there's a bunch more duets in that karaoke catalog, and I'm sure you're getting a hankering to sing some --"

"Jim!" Pam interrupted him, much louder than necessary. He wondered if she was drunk already.

"What?" he asked, amused.

"Do you know where Dwight and Angela are?"

Jim looked around, realizing that he actually hadn't seen Dwight for a while. Or Angela, for that matter. Jim's eyes widened as he turned back to look at Pam. "You don't think they left together, do you?"

"No!" Pam said, grabbing his arm. "No -- wait! I definitely know they're still here." She grinned mischievously.

"How?"

She gestured for him to follow her. Standing in front of the patio door, she pointed to the tree house structure in Jim's backyard. Jim looked at the little house, but didn't see anything.

"What? What am I looking at?"

Pam gestured again. "Do you see those shoes sticking out?" Pam whispered. He watched her glance behind them and turned to check as well. Luckily, the cameramen were focused on Michael's antics as he badgered Ryan and Kelly by the couch.

Jim turned around and squinted to get a better view. "Oh ... my God -- yeah. I think those are -- Birkenstocks."

Pam nodded, smiling. "And who wears Birkenstocks?"

"Dwight," Jim whispered. "And there's another set of feet there -- oh my God, Dwight and Angela are making out in my backyard tree house!" Jim shook his hands suddenly, as if infected. "Oh -- God."

"Shhh!" Pam said. "We've got to keep it a secret."

"Right, right. Okay -- what are we going to do with this newfound information?"

Pam smiled. "Trust me; I have a plan. We just have to wait for Dwight to come back in the house."

===

Dwight didn't emerge back into the house until about fifteen minutes later, and went straight for the refrigerator. Jim and Pam followed him into the kitchen.

"Hey, Dwight," Pam said cheerfully.

"Hey," Dwight said, obviously ignoring her while rooting through Jim's fridge.

"May I help you?" Jim asked.

"I was just looking to see if you had any apple cider," Dwight said.

"Uh ... nope."

"Blackhaus?"

"Blackhaus?" Jim repeated. "The raspberry schnapps?" He looked over at Pam, who shrugged.

"It's German," Dwight explained. "How about prune juice?"

"Uh ... no, seriously, Dwight, why would you want that?"

"Good antioxidant," Dwight said, popping his head up. "And good for the digestive system." He bent back down, sighing. "I guess this will have to do." He pulled a container of cranberry juice out of the fridge, glancing at the bottle. "I'll at least do my urinary tract some good."

Jim and Pam both looked at each other at the same time.

"Well, Dwight -- " Pam said, "I was looking for you earlier because I started choking on part of a hot dog, and didn't know if anyone else knew the Heimlich maneuver." Dwight instantly made a face of disgust. "Of course, Jim managed to make it work, but--"

"You're lucky he didn't accidentally bruise part of your lung, or hit your pancreas. If the procedure is done incorrectly, it can have serious permanent effects." Dwight flattened his lips together, shaking his head slightly. "And why you would have trusted Jim to help you..."

"Well, I told you, Dwight, I couldn't find you anywhere..."

"Yeah, Dwight. Where were you all that time, anyway?" Jim piped in.

Dwight looked momentarily stunned. Then: "I told you, Jim. I was checking the perimeter of your house for possible party crashers. Or intruders."

"For almost two hours?"

"You obviously underestimate the thoroughness of my surveillance. Plus, you have a lot of shrubs and dark spaces I had to check under..."

"Right," Jim said. He looked at Pam. "Oh -- Pam, have you seen Angela at all?"

"No, I haven't," Pam said, pretending to look quizzical. She glanced at Dwight. "Have you seen Angela, Dwight?"

Again, Dwight looked surprised for a few seconds. "Um, no, actually, I haven't. I mean, I might have seen her in the backyard at one point a while ago, but -- yeah. No idea where she could be."

Jim looked at Pam and could tell that she was trying not to laugh.

"Well," Pam said. "If you do see her, tell her that I've been looking for her."

"No problem," Dwight said, making a quick exit from the kitchen.

As soon as Dwight left, they both immediately burst out laughing.

===

"Jim -- Jim!"

He turned around, feeling someone grabbing and pulling on his arm frantically. To Jim's surprise, it was Ryan. "What?" Jim asked, half-amused.

"Dude," Ryan said, propping himself up against the wall. "Do you know what we totally have to do now?"

"Um, no," Jim said.

"A drinking game. It is definitely ... we should totally do a drinking game, y'know? Drinking games are ... fun." Ryan flashed a sloppy grin at him.

"Wow. Okay," Jim said. "Um. But are you sure you'll be okay? I mean... you've had a lot to drink already."

"Toby's going to give me a ride home. I was hoping to meet a chick, but, you know -- kind of slim pickings. No offense." Ryan shrugged.

"Yeah -- right," Jim said. "Gotcha. Well, let me see who's in."

There weren't that many people left at that point, but Jim still managed to get a small group gathered around his couch. Pam was on his left, and around the circle were Kelly, Ryan, Meredith, Creed, Toby and Michael.

"Can I use my wine?" Michael asked. "'Cause, you know, beer is kind of gross." He made a face.

"Yes, you can use whatever you're drinking," Jim said. "Just as long as you have something."

"No problem-o, there, slick," Creed said, holding up a flask.

"Hey -- I think I have one that looks just like that!" Meredith said.

Jim and Pam exchanged looks. "Okay, then -- what are we playing?" Jim asked, looking at Ryan.

"Oh! I know -- let's do 'I Never!'" Kelly said. "That game is totally awesome."

"What's 'I Never?'" Michael asked.

Pam spoke up. "That's where someone says, 'I never ...' something, and then whoever has done it has to drink."

"That doesn't sound very interesting," Michael said.

"You might be surprised," Toby quipped.

"Right," Michael said, rolling his eyes. "Somehow I doubt you'll have anything interesting to say."

"Okay. How about we get started, then?" Jim said. "Pam, go ahead."

Pam looked at him, surprised. "Oh -- wow. Okay. I totally didn't expect to have to come up with something right away. Okay," she said, smiling. "Let's see. Um... I never ... have had sex in public." She took a drink.

"Wait --" Michael said. "Why did she take a drink? Does that mean Pam's done it in public?"

"No," Ryan said. "The person that says their 'I never' always drinks, whether or not they've actually done it. The important thing is to see who else drinks..."

"Ooohhh," Michael said. "So -- who else drank? Who else has had sex in public?" Michael started giggling to himself.

"You have to pay attention and see, Michael," Pam said.

"I'll drink again," Meredith said, taking another slug from her plastic cup. "I'm not afraid of admitting it."

"Oh -- yuck," Michael said.

"All right," Pam said. "Kelly, I think it's your turn."

The game went on fairly uneventfully until Creed's turn came up. "I have never ... done several types of hallucinogenic drugs while engaging in sexual intercourse with several people at once. Oh -- and I think it was in the mud. Or the beach. I can't remember, exactly."

Almost everyone was so busy staring at Creed that they didn't notice Toby sneaking a sip. Except for Pam, who started giggling loudly. "Ohhh my God..." Pam whispered. She poked Jim repeatedly in the side until he turned to look at her.

"What?" he said.

She was laughing too hard to answer, and by that time, Toby was saying his 'I Never.' Jim just smiled at her, shaking his head.

When Michael's turn came up, he couldn't stop laughing to himself. "Okay... um, heh -- wow, okay, um ... I never, um ... gosh, let's see. Um."

"Michael, just say something," Meredith said.

"Sheesh, fine - um, I've ... never done, um --" Michael started giggling to himself again. "Um... okay, I've never ... had oral sex. Hee!"

Everyone took a drink.

"Wow!" Michael said. "Everyone here has -- um, done that? Even Meredith?"

Meredith made a face.

"Um, I think that oral, um -- stimulation is kind of, um, common sexual practice," Toby said.

"Yeah, you would think so -- pervert," Michael said.

Jim looked at Pam again. "Okay, then," Jim said. "Moving along. Since we've gone around in a circle, why don't we just go, uh -- randomly? Ryan?" Jim said.

Ryan was fairly drunk at that point, so Jim figured he might say something interesting.

"Thanks, Jim. Okay. Um. I've never ... had a crush on someone in the office." He looked right at Jim as he raised the beer bottle to his lips.

"Define 'crush,'" Michael said, as Jim quickly took a sip of his beer, trying to look casual. His eyes widened as he noticed Pam sipping her beer as well.

"Pam -- warehouse doesn't count," Kelly said.

"Yeah, I know," Pam said quickly. Jim had to force himself not to stare at her. What was that supposed to mean? Oh, my God, he thought.

Michael continued: "Because if you mean, like, sort of a fatherly appreciation for someone's good looks, like Pam, for instance, or even Ryan..."

"Dude," Ryan said.

"What?" Michael asked.

"Pam, why don't you go next?" Kelly said.

Pam looked nervous. "Um, I don't really know..."

"Just say whatever you're thinking," Meredith said.

"I do that all the time," Creed said. "Someone smells like Polish sausage."

"Wow," Jim said.

"Okay -- um," Pam pursed her lips together. She picked at the label on the beer bottle. "I never ... had a fantasy about someone in the office."

"You mean -- like, a sexual fantasy?" Toby asked.

"Um, okay," Pam said.

Everyone drank, except for Michael, who looked confused. Pam couldn't stop glancing at Jim, though, whose neck was turning redder by the second. He refused to look at her.

"I mean, does that mean, like -- you have to picture having sex with them, or can it be other things -- like touching breasts?"

"Okay, wow -- too much information," Jim said, standing up suddenly. "I really think I've had enough of this game. I'm going to go ... uh, get some fresh air, I think."

"Can't take the heat, Halpert?" Ryan asked as he stood up. Jim didn't answer, but made a beeline for the back door. This was not what he had been expecting at all.

"Shut up, Ryan," Jim heard Pam say from across the room. He immediately turned to look at her, but she had headed off in the other direction.

===

"Hey."

Jim looked up to where he was sitting on the back step to see Pam standing over him. "Oh -- uh, hey," Jim said.

"You mind if I sit down?"

"No," Jim said. Yes, Jim thought. God. Is she thinking about how I said I had a crush on someone in the office? Or a sexual fantasy? Does she know it was her? Who else would it be? What was hers about? Was it about me? Could it be about me? God. We never should have played that stupid game.

"Um. Yeah, I, um -- did you notice that Toby drank to Creed's 'I Never'?"

"What?" Jim asked. He couldn't even remember at that point what Creed had said.

"You know, um... yeah. Wow, it was just that it was kind of ... shocking, and, Toby..." She trailed off. "I don't know."

"When isn't something that Creed says kind of shocking? Or at least -- weird?"

"Yeah," Pam said, giggling.

"Yeah," Jim said.

They settled into a semi-awkward silence. Jim really didn't know what to say at that point. He was afraid anything he might say would make her think of what had just happened. He didn't know ... God. Pam had a crush on someone in the office. That wasn't Roy. Had? Has ... Oh ... man.

His brain raced back and forth with possibilities. He sipped his beer nervously. He really didn't even want to drink anymore, but wasn't sure what else to do with himself at that point.

"So," Pam said. "This has been a ... good party so far."

"Yeah?" Jim asked. He couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He hoped Pam was having fun, but still...

"Yeah, I mean. I'm glad you invited me."

Jim smiled. "Of course I would have invited you. I mean, I invited everyone in the office, but -- you know."

"Well, except Michael," Pam said.

"Who still managed to show up anyway," Jim grinned.

"Yeah, funny how that happened," Pam said.

"Yeah," Jim said, still smiling. They stared at each other for a few more seconds. Jim wondered what she was thinking. Her eyes looked serious, her lips pressed together.

"Hey, um --" Pam started to say, when the door slid open.

"Oh," a voice said. They both looked up to see Toby standing in the doorway. "Um, I'm not ... interrupting anything, am I?" he asked.

"No," Jim said immediately. "I mean..." He looked at Pam.

"No," Pam said. "We were just ... talking."

"Right," Toby said softly. "Listen, I'm going to take off, so. Thanks for the great party."

"Yeah," Jim said. "Let me ... see you out, then." He stood up and followed Toby into the house. Something made him halfway grateful for the excuse to get away, but he wasn't quite sure why.

===